Open-mindedness and Broad Variety of Art...

"Artist's Studio No. 1" by Roy Lichtenstein

This is an oil/Magna acrylic/sand painting on canvas by Lichtenstein, an American pop artist. It is 8 ft. by 10.6 ft. and was completed in 1973. The painting includes various objects in a room, an "artist's studio", which seem random. The items include a couch, plant, arrangement of fruits, telephone, picture frame, paintings, comic pictures, plant, vase/pottery, and a greek-like end table/stand. There are only six main colors used in this painting; black, white, yellow, green, red, and blue. Everything is relatively flat except for the ceiling which is a gray cloudy texture.

Lichtenstein was a pop artist, so he painted images of images. The concept of machine-made things was a common pop theme, hence why his works seem very "perfect" in a sense, and appear to be computer generated (a print). In fact, similar to Warhol, he painted his works by hand. A comic theme is common throughout Lichtenstein's work. He even painted all the small color dots which appear when a comic print is magnified.

I had learned about this piece only a few days before I first saw it in person and felt an overwhelming wave of awe. I didn't stop by it long to interpret it, but looking at it closer now, I see that he includes different forms of art within the whole painting. With the large painting on the far left, I believe he represents abstract expressionism (or painting in general). The telephone refers to modern art, or communication art. The arrangements of fruits represent still-life art. The vase represents pottery. The couch represents furniture design (with it's frilly trim on such a boring, flat, white couch). The painting above the doorway is landscape art. The large donald duck image is comic art. The whole room represents architecture. And the pillar-column like stand on the far right represents classical art. I think he may be showing the different kinds of art which an artist may be exposed to. The artist, seeing something inspiring, "takes" that inspirational subject into the artist's own "studio" in a sense. A metaphor for being inspired, storing the memory of the inspiration, and making art influenced by that inspiration. Although, this thought contradicts the non-variety of pop art.

I watched a video of Lichtenstein painting one of his large paintings, very similar to "Artist's Studio No. 1". I was amazed at the fact that he actually painted them with paint and brushes. It is very similar to Mondrian. The perfection in line and purity in color is simply amazing.

Floating Between The Heavens and The Earth

"Suaire de Mondo Cane" (Mondo Cane Shroud) by Yves Klein (1961)

When I saw this piece I thought about the Blue Man Group. The color, which is the official color of Yves Klein, is "International Klein Blue". When he started these "body imprints", he was inspired by the sweat imprints made on Judo mats when he practiced Judo. It is obvious that it is imprints of different nude women of various sizes. I am curious as to if it was set on the ground or on a wall or if the height differences are correct? (or did they stand on something?)

Why blue? Blue is a sad color (like they say, "why so blue?") as well as a cold feeling color. The deep blue of IKB makes me think of the ocean. If someone didn't know it was imprints of women's bodies, it might look like a four-legged animal from a front view (thus showing two legs).

I know that Klein also did full-body imprints (head/face and legs included) yet why did he not do so in this piece? It could be detachment from the head and the ground, an absence in the mind and not well-grounded to the earth. The middle-most figure seems to be leaning to the left and suggests a "curious" stance. The figures as a group in height (from the left) goes high-low-high-low-high-low-high. This could add onto being between the ground and the skies as "floating inbetween".

In his other works, it was that he wanted a "sense of the spirit within" and by looking up close to the painting, you can see not only the skin print, but the movements it made and the "marks of movement". Different textures are visible and suggests how the model may have moved about when making her mark. In some senses it is like recording history.

Klein did not touch the piece in the makings (as well as his other anthropometry pieces). He was always the directing hand where he'd tell the models and his students what to do. That suggests a sense of control, or even playing god.

It could be related to an advanced (or mature) version of childish hand-prints. It is messy, like a child's art work. It is similar to the sense that children make their mark with all interest of seeing the results.

Klein also did some minimalism work, his most well-known one being "Le Vide" (the void) in 1958. He was fascinated by the idea of a "void" (derived from a Zen concept) and looking into the void and also getting a sense of the void. In a gallery he exhibited at, he emptied a room except for a cabinet and painted it all white. He created an elaborate entrance to the exhibit, suggesting something phenomenal. With the massive publicity, over 3000 people waited just to see an empty white room with a cabinet. He said it was a "zone of heightened pictorial proto-mystical experience". (fun fact: everything was blue outside the room, the windows, curtains, and cocktails... he put something in the cocktails that made people urinate blue for a week) This had some Dada elements, thus some say he is part of the Neo-Dadaists. Others say he is of "post-modern" era. His work was about the physical experience more than visual.

He also did performances. In 1957, he released 1001 blue balloons for the opening of Iris Clert Gallery.

He has an series in the same nature of this piece called "Shroud Anthropometry" where he would do full-scale imprints of wome. Anthropometry is the measuring of a human body...

Curious Silver Star...

"Silver Star" by Mark Handforth

At Midway Contemporary gallery in North Minneapolis, MN hangs a giant 98x98x21 in. silver star. It is made from steel and painted with enamel (“The Secret Life of Objects.”). As you can see in the second photo, there is a orange glow reflecting off of the white wall because the back of the star is painted bright neon orange. Also, two of the five pointed star's corners are bent. The left point slightly bent, then the bottom left point is almost bent in half, making the star protrude from the wall it is hung from.

Handforth was born in Hong Kong in 1969 and now is a Miami based artist. He went to school at The Slate School of Fine Art in London. He has had just as many solo exhibitions as group exhibitions.

"Silver Star" was created in 2004. A star itself has many meanings, which includes the astronomical symbol, military power and war (western cultures), distraction (ancient times), and also magical/mystical meanings. The five-pointed star originally represented ten tribes of Israel, which broke away from ruling classes of Judah, Benjamin, and Priests (“Star.”). Silver suggests a "cold" feeling, as opposed to the warmth of gold, yet they both represent wealth. Silver is also traditionally the 25^th Wedding Anniversary Gift, along with being a symbolism of aging (the term “silver haired”) (“Silver Color Symbolism.”). Orange is a “warm” color, as opposed to the opposite cold silver. The color symbolizes health and wellbeing, fall (with Halloween), or more commonly warning, as it is often used in traffic. It is a bright color that the human eye is naturally attracted to (“Orange.”).

Handforth’s work often involves narratives. He is not afraid to make strong statements, thus his work commonly has biblical references as well as the state of the world. This piece could most definitely be referring to the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, which is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible (“Ten Lost Tribes.”).

It could represent a yin and yang, where as the silver is cold (a cold front/mask) and the back/inside a warm orange. It could refer to society, which almost everyone has a cold front without knowing them. Sometimes the “coldness” is more obvious by appearance, which the bent corner could portray.

Also, it could have a positive meaning of wealth and happiness and health.

Another interpretation could be that the riches of the world is in danger.

I was drawn to this pieces because of the scale, irregularity of a 3-D star (the bent corners), and the mysterious bright neon backside. On the back, it is all orange except for the silver paint drippings from the front. But also one leg of the star is painted silver on the back rather than being orange. This caught my eye curiously...

Works Cited

"Handforth's Fallen Angels." Find Articles at BNET | News Articles, Magazine Back Issues & Reference Articles on All Topics. Web. 08 Oct. 2009. .

"Orange." COLOURlovers :: Color Trends Palettes. Web. 08 Oct. 2009. .

"The Secret Life of Objects." Midway Contemporary Art. Web. 08 Oct. 2009. .

"Silver Color Symbolism." About.com. Web. 08 Oct. 2009. .

"Star." Wikipedia. Web. 08 Oct. 2009. .

"Ten Lost Tribes." Wikipedia. Web. 08 Oct. 2009. .